TOP - May 2019, Vol 12, No 2

The May issue of The Oncology Pharmacist (TOP) features presentations from national and international meetings, including the 2019 Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) Conference, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 2019 Conference, the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, the 2019 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium, and the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

It is important for patients with cancer to have access to a complete range of healthcare services, including support services. However, many healthcare professionals, including oncology pharmacists, often have a “blind spot” when it comes to providing patients with cancer support services that can lead to better outcomes.

The discontinuation of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) is considered safe and appropriate in consenting patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) under specific circumstances and with careful molecular monitoring, according to the updated National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) management guideline for CML.

The oncology pharmacist plays an invaluable role in the management of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). However, as the pipeline for new anticancer drugs continues to expand, the pipeline for novel antiemetics appears to be drying up, underlining the importance of the pharmacist’s knowledge regarding currently available antiemetics for patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Given the high cost of oncology drugs, it is important for pharmacists to become more business savvy regarding their practices, said Andrea Ledford, PharmD, BCOP, Oncology Pharmacy Manager, Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center, FL, at the 2019 Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) Annu­al Conference.

Breast cancer research continues to improve survival across all subsets and settings of the disease, according to Sandra Cuellar, PharmD, BCOP, Director, PGY-2 Oncology; Clinical Oncology Pharmacist and Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System, Chicago.

Adding the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab (Tecentriq) to nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) chemotherapy is the first immunotherapy-based combination to improve progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in women with advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer and PD-L1 expression compared with placebo plus nab-paclitaxel, according to results of the IMpassion130 clinical trial.